Apologize!
by LavenderCrystalOfRoses
Summary: When Thorin yelled those infamous words at Bombur in mirkwood, he figured he'd simply given Bombur some tough love. But when his words and actions haunt his sleep, he realizes he needs to apologize...the only problem is, most of the company agrees with his harsh treatment. Can Thorin toss away his pride and do the right thing?


**A/N: This fanfic could not have happened without the inspiration from others. Particularly, W**_**hat Does It Mean When You Glow Red?**_** by FrankieSunflower. Check it out. I own absolutely nothing except for my own plot. The reason I wrote this was becauseI have never seen a fic addressing the issue. I plan to change that. Anyway...here's the story.**

"You need not try." Thorin felt all the hunger and frustration and irritation pushing up out of his mouth and transforming into words. "We are very annoyed with you as it is. If you hadn't waked up, we would have left you to your idiotic dreams." His emotions are curdling into nastiness. He spits, "You are no joke to carry even over short commons."

Bombur's tearstreaked face meets his for a moment, then he quietly stumbles to his feet, body shaking from disuse. He'd been slumbering for a week.

_Why did you do that?! _His conscience yelled at him. _Bombur didn't do anything to you! _

_He was acting like a spoiled child. _Thorin thought as he remembered how Bombur had burst into tears at the lack of food. _He should have woken up yesterday, before we ran out._

_He woke up half-starved in a dark, rotting place with no memory of how he got there, and then you yelled at him! _

Thorin shrugs it off. _Tough. _But... Something begins to gnaw at him.

* * *

"_Please_ can we rest? I am exhausted!" Says Bombur, still feeling the effects from the river.

Thorin briefly wonders if this is serious, whether forcing to get up in such a harsh way worsened things. Either way, he should say something...

"Oh no you don't! Let your legs do their share,we've carried _you _long enough." Says Gloin.

"Don't speak to my brother like that!" Says Bofur. Bifur and Ori as well rush to his defense. _He's fine. He probably forgot about what I said already. _He walks on ahead.

* * *

That evening, as the last bit of light fades away, Thorin is laying out his bed roll, when he spots Dori leading an unwilling Ori away from Bombur. Thorin realizes that everyone is keeping a distance from Bombur, with the exception of Bifur and Bofur, especially after the elvish incident earlier that day.

_Would they be shunning him like that had not you set the example? _

_It was their own choice. _

_You could change that._

_But would they listen?_

_Why am I so worried about rejection? I'm their leader!_

_Just because your their leader doesn't mean their respect for you is 100% secure._

Thorin drifts off.

* * *

_That night_

"You need not try, we are very annoyed with you as it is. If you hadn't waked up, we would have left you to your idiotic dreams."

Only instead of getting up, Bombur is curled up in a ball yelling, "Go on without me then!"

And then his conscience is yelling at him, "APOLOGIZE!" Thorinwakes up. His bedroll is in a tangled heap next to him.

Everyone stares, including Bombur.

_You could- _begins his conscience.

_How strange that'd look! _Thorin dismisses. With everyone staring and all.

* * *

Thorin is surveying what he can see of the path ahead, when he hears another voice, puffed up with bossiness. "No, we can't 'wait up' For you to finish packing your bedroll! Get it rolled up _now!_"

"But-but I..." whispered Ori.

"Don't even try to make an excuse!" Why would he_ say that?! _Thorin rushes over and yanks Kili aside.

"Kili! What are you doing?! That was very- mean!"

Kili's young face stares up at him as he speaks. "I-I don't know. I guess that's what you did, so it made sense. Besides, he _was _being a slowpoke."

Thorin calls out ,"Hey, Ori! We're-" Ori casts them an angry look before slumping against a tree and staring at the ground. It's the first time Thorin has seen him angry. It's also the first time he's seen him cry. _Was that how Bombur felt? Sad that he was thought a no-good whiner and angry to be told so?_

_Oh, no. _ He sighs. "Kili, what I did was wrong. What you did was wrong. You need to apologize." "What about you? Will you apologize to Bombur?" Asked Kili.

_You have worried about the respect of others. But now you need to show some respect._Thorin took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes. I will apologize."

* * *

It was one thing to watch as Kili talked things over with Ori. It was quite another as he went to say he was sorry to Bombur. Even had a whole army been behind him, Thorin still would have felt nervous as he approached the other dwarf.

"Hi." He said awkwardly.

Bombur looked up. "Leave me alone."

"No, listen-" Bombur stood and started to move away.

_Say it! _Said his conscience. And he did. "I'm sorry!" He called after Bombur's retreating form. Bombur turns around.

"I-I- was wrong," He says.

Bombur responded quietly, "It was no joke for _me _have a river steal my memories." He sighed. "And my friends." He added, looking at where Gloin and several others were folding up the bedrolls.

_What are you- Oh. _His own words echoed in his ears. _You_ _are_ _no_ _joke_ _to_ _carry even _ _over_ _short_ _commons_.

It was now like Bombur was talking to himself. "I guess I shouldn't have been so clumsy..."

With a jolt, Thorin realized that no one had told him about the deer.

And then, Bifur and Bofur are walking over to him and Bombur.

"Come along Bombur," says Bofur, not meeting Thorin's eyes.

"There's a _much nicer _place to sit over there." Says Bifur, especially stressing the word _nice._

Thorin has no intention of leaving things at that. "Wait! He needs to hear the full story of the...accident." _He needs to know about the deer._

Bifur and Bofur stared at him. Bifur still looked angry, Bofur still looked distressed.

Bombur said, "He apologized. Just now." He glances at the king, and he mumbles, "And I-I forgive him."

Forgiveness. It's a simple act, but at the same time, so much more...

Bifur looked Thorin directly in the eye. "Never again?"

At any other time, mostly on other matter, Thorin would have been the superior one, being leader and king. But this was a matter of the heart, and every heart is made equal. Sometimes we hurt, sometimes we hurt others... And Thorin understood that.

"Never again." He said.

**A/N: The dates when the food ran out and when Bombur fell asleep are canon. Did you enjoy it? Don't forget to review.**


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